51st Kuopio Dance Festival on June 10-16

This summer will take the Kuopio Dance Festival out of its traditional venues and group dance with other art forms. This, the 51st year of the festival brings us fresh, memorable, and topical works which march to the beat of a different drum and break conventional formats.

The festival slated for June 10 to 16 is the first of its editions coming from dancer Riku Lehtopolku, says a press release.

The programme will be opened by the Norwegian company Winter Guests, visiting with its founder and artistic director Alan Lucien Øyen’s latest work, Story, story die. Øyen won the Kuopio Nordic Grand Prix choreography contest in 2007 and has since gained international success. It will be followed by Yoann Bourgeois poetically combining dance, contemporary circus and kinetic art. Consisting of four independent works, Moving Pieces then takes viewers around the Kuopio city centre. Another French work to feature in the festival will be Aurélien Bory’s performance installation Corps Noir. Build on an interface of dance, visual arts and natural science, the work captures the movement of a dancer to the canvas. It questions our idea of dance as a contemporary art when dance leaves an imprint. Finnish Iiro Näkki and his work [frames] will present an oscillation between improvisation and set movement material and movement tasks with breathtaking choreography.

Another number, Spanish GNǀMC’s Set of Sets relies on precise cooperation of gravity defying dancers and creates constantly changing labyrinth. Genelec-Galas are starred by Finnish Kinetic Orchestra and Winter Guests with Alan Lucien Øyen’s Sinnerman. The gala night will end with Akram Khan’s Kaash performed by IT Dansa. Le Patin Libre from Canada will take contemporary dance on the ice. Le Patin Libre, founded by ex high-level figure skaters, defies traditional rules and transforms athleticism into means of free expression with their work Threshold.

Cristiana Morganti’s “Jessica and Me” is a profile which mirrors experiences and life of the long-standing soloist of the iconic Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Kind (Child), the latest part of Peeping Tom’s Family Trilogy, is expected to take us into the world of a child. Every action is driven by how children see the world, by their fears and desires.

The festival will develop and change through each artistic director. “Now we are heading to the season where boundaries between different art forms are fading out,” said the festival director, Anna Pitkänen.